Law Firms

Law firms across the United States provide the predominant method by which lawyers organize themselves professionally. A law firm provides each individual lawyer with greater resources than any individual lawyer would be able to attain if acting independently of the law firm. Law firms provide their constituent lawyers with service including professional office space, professional support staff, and legal research teams. Law firms allow each lawyer to worry less about the infrastructure needed to successfully practice law, and lets the lawyer instead worry about the actual practice of law, whether the arguments in the courtroom itself, filing legal briefs and memorandums, or research into the case law, depending on the individual preference of the particular lawyer.

When engaged in practice in a law firm, the member lawyers are responsible for providing advice to clients of their rights and responsibilities under the law. Whether a client hires an entire law firm or individual lawyers in a law firm, all law firms assume the responsibility of representing the client in civil or criminal court.

Depending on the size of the firm a client may be represented in civil cases by one branch of the firm and in criminal court by another group of lawyers, or a single lawyer may be active in both courts. A law firm may be comprised of a single lawyer, which is the most common type of law firm, however many larger law firms exist consisting of several hundred employees. Larger law firms have a strict hierarchy. At the highest level are partners, who are joint owners who also serve as business directors of the law firm. The next level of employees are comprised of associates, which consists of lawyers seeing to become partners. At the next and lowest level are a variety of support staff.

This support staff comprises the largest portion of all law firms, and provides paralegal, clerical, and a variety of other services. Partners can be forced out of their partnerships for a variety of reasons, varying from a mandatory retirement age, criminal actions, malpractice, disruptive mental illness, or ceasing to bring in profitable clients. There are also some lawyers who work closely with law firms, but are outside the traditional hierarchy of the law firm. These lawyers, who are afforded the honorific “of counsel,” may serve a law firm in an advisory role. Lawyers considered “of counsel” often have their own separate client base, but maintain access to the resources of the associated law firm without receiving a portion of the profits. These lawyers may be former partners, former associates who did not obtain partner status, lawyers who once served as in-house council, or lawyers with a highly specific area of practice.

Due to the fact that the practice of law is such a competitive occupation, law firms often compete for lawyers in a particular area. Lawyers graduating from school often rely upon independent ratings to attract the most highly prized students. As a result, each firm attempts to distinguish itself from the competition.